Summary Version
Through its advocacy efforts, the ACR will increase its influence with the federal government to improve policy outcomes. The ACR's advocacy will support legislative and regulatory policy initiatives that will:
- improve the care of patients with rheumatic disease;
- support equitable and sustainable reimbursement for rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals; and
- ensure that all Americans have access to rheumatologic care.
Policy Objectives
Patient Access to Rheumatology
- Advocate for Medicare reform including permanent repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate payment formula.
- Promote appropriate reimbursement of cognitive specialties.
- Advocate for flexibility in private contracting with Medicare patients.
- Support relief from certain anti-trust restrictions.
- Support repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
- Advocate for medical liability reform to reduce health care costs and preserve patient access to care.
Patient Access to Treatment
- Advance patient access to appropriate treatments; advocate for restriction of specialty cost tiering practices including excessive cost sharing (Tier IV practices).
- Advance access to patient assistance programs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.
- Support adherence to the Average Sales Price plus six percent reimbursement rate for in-office treatments.
- Advance policies that address causes of drug shortages and reduce impacts to patients and physicians.
- Support appropriate reimbursement for preventive osteoporosis screenings (such as Dual X-ray Absorptiometry) to improve patient access to fracture prevention services.
- Advocate for changes to advance quality of patient care and increase access to care, including managed care reform involving patient protection.
Medical Research and Training Support
- Advocate for the funding of basic and clinical arthritis research, and actively collaborate with the Arthritis Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and others to increase funding and grants.
- Support funding for graduate medical education, additional fellowships, and the Pediatric Subspecialty Loan Repayment Program.
- Support performance measures that improve quality of care and that are sustained by data collection and reporting that are reasonable, practical, and appropriately reimbursed.
- Promote appropriate advancement of electronic health records.
- Support Comparative Effectiveness Research.
Supporting Materials
Click here to view the 2012 ACR Policy Statements 
Government Affairs Committee Roster
